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When Does a .380 Beat a 9mm?

While I don’t have anything against the .380 with the right ammo, in fact I bought my dad one, it’s a weak argument to say the recoil of the 9mm is too much or enough to make .380 a better choice.
 
There aren’t a whole lot of “covert” 9mm pistols out there. There’s lots of .380’s that fit the bill, though. Sometimes, even a subcompact 9 is going to be too big to carry, and still be rapidly accessible, where a small .380 will work perfectly.

As far as lighter recoil...since most .380’s come in small, lightweight packages and/or are straight blowback...yeah, I can see it's not much of an argument...but, put it in a similar pistol (thinking Shield EZ, here) and the difference is noticeable...and if you are recoil sensitive, it can be a world of difference.
 
My wife has rheumatoid arthritis in her hands. It's hard for her to pull the trigger on most revolvers. Most semi-autos are too hard for her to rack the slide. So what works well for her? A Smith & Wesson M&P .380 Shield. She is deadly accurate with it. We know Smith & Wesson make a 9mm version, but it has a little bit more "snap" to it than the .380, which she can shoot for long periods, but not so long with a 9mm, as even that hurts her hands after a few magazines. So I would say in her case, .380 beats out 9mm any day.
 
chrisjohnson65 said:
My wife has rheumatoid arthritis in her hands. It's hard for her to pull the trigger on most revolvers. Most semi-autos are too hard for her to rack the slide. So what works well for her? A Smith & Wesson M&P .380 Shield. She is deadly accurate with it. We know Smith & Wesson make a 9mm version, but it has a little bit more "snap" to it than the .380, which she can shoot for long periods, but not so long with a 9mm, as even that hurts her hands after a few magazines. So I would say in her case, .380 beats out 9mm any day.
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Same thing with my dad. He’s 80 years old and can’t rack any of his .45s so I got him a .380 EZ. He really likes it. He wants the EZ 9mm now. I told him to wait a bit and let them get the bugs worked out.
 
HansGruber said:
There aren’t a whole lot of “covert” 9mm pistols out there. There’s lots of .380’s that fit the bill, though. Sometimes, even a subcompact 9 is going to be too big to carry, and still be rapidly accessible, where a small .380 will work perfectly.

As far as lighter recoil...since most .380’s come in small, lightweight packages and/or are straight blowback...yeah, I can see it's not much of an argument...but, put it in a similar pistol (thinking Shield EZ, here) and the difference is noticeable...and if you are recoil sensitive, it can be a world of difference.
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If the only thing that would do is pocket pistol like the LCP I agree. That would be pretty much never for me. I gave the LCP I had away. Horrible trigger. Deadly accurate out to about 16 inches. Lol.

There’s a million 9mm the size of a Shield or smaller.
 
I have one 380 handgun and its a Berretta 84, a little bigger than the normal 380. But I also have and carry a Berretta 950 that shoots 22 short. Why? first its very small, does weight anything, its has a pop up barrel so you don't have to rack it just pull back the hammer. Living in south Florida and retired I wear shorts must the time. Using a pocket holster its easily carried. But the best reason is (its better than having no gun) Complete loaded and still weights 10.9oz
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I carry my M&P Bodyguard 380 with 60 gr. Black Hills Honey Badger rounds and 2 spare mags when my wardrobe and/or the weather dictates the need for utmost concealment in a pocket holster. The rest of the time, it's my Hellcat or M&P Shield 9 with Honey Badger 125 gr. Subsonic and a spare mag in a variety of holsters. I feel confident that I can stop a threat with any of them at common combat distances.
 
I don't think the .380 ever needs to "beat" the 9 mm. I find that they make a great team with a 9 mm in the waistband and a .380 in a pocket.
 
Its half the weight and slower in pretty much every barrel length you can get a subcompact in..so never

The ammo is often the same price at best and you can get some very small single stack 9mms (ruger lc9 ect)
 
bigmanstan said:
Its half the weight and slower in pretty much every barrel length you can get a subcompact in..so never

The ammo is often the same price at best and you can get some very small single stack 9mms (ruger lc9 ect)
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.380 ammo is nearly always more expensive than 9mm.
 
From Linda Olin herself. When there a storage of ammo. All the small caliper machines are setup for 9mm, which are the same machines that makes the 380acp rounds.
 
The Honey Badger 380 60gr. in my post above was tested by Handguns Magazine (on their website) and showed 1104 fps out of a Taurus Spectrum 2.8" barrel with 10.5" of penetration in gel through a several layers of denim with a 6.5" x 2.5" temporary wound cavity. These rounds are specifically engineered for short barreled pistols. I switched from my former JHP carry ammo when I gel tested them through denim and found a 10%-15% failure to expand after several boxes fired. 2 or 3 well placed hits of Honey Badger in torso mass should be enough to stop a threat at common combat distances but I hope I never have to find out.
 
I did get caught a little short on .380 right now, only a little under 1k...but I really don’t shoot much of it...my P238 being the only one I shoot regularly. I’ve got some brass, though, may have to order some 90-95gr bullets, so I can keep going if I have to.
 
I carry the Springfield 911 when I’m wearing shorts and a tee shirt for a walk or going to the beach or somewhere I really need concealment. I have a Hellcat for most of the time, but even though it’s a subcompact and pretty light weight, the 911 in .380 is noticeably lighter and thinner.
 
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